Second half goals from Maxwell and Edinson Cavani saw the Parisiens move eight points clear at the top of the table following Monaco's surprise 2-0 defeat to Saint-Etienne. Paris Saint-Germain opened the scoring five minutes into the second half through Brazilian defender Maxwell before Cavani came off the bench to head home his 21st goal of the campaign.

Cavani was left out of the starting XI despite having returned to full fitness following a thigh injury, but the hosts still offered plenty of firepower and should have taken the lead six minutes in when Ezequiel Lavezzi wasted a glorious opportunity.

The Argentine was played through by Lucas Moura but, instead of squaring the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he rounded goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and sent his shot narrowly wide of the post.

Marseille did not heed that early warning, though, and was grateful to defender Rod Fanni for clearing Lucas' effort off the line after the winger had beaten several defenders.

The visitors did offer a sporadic attacking threat of their own, midfielder Mathieu Valbuena forcing PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu into a strong diving save with a curling strike from the edge of the area before halftime.

The breakthrough arrived almost immediately following the restart as Maxwell slotted a composed finish underneath Mandanda after being played through by Ibrahimovic.

Jose Anigo's side offered little in response and were consistently on the back foot as they struggled to create goalscoring opportunities.

Cavani's introduction came in the 70th minute and the former Napoli man did not take long to find the net, converting with a bullet header from Gregory van der Wiel's right-wing delivery.

Ibrahimovic then missed the chance to add gloss to the scoreline with a lofted finish, but that proved to be little more than a footnote in a superb win for PSG.